Planning a Journey in the UK by public transport

You can obtain an itinerary and timetable for door-to-door journeys between any two places in the UK, using buses, trains and walking (or by car) on the Transport Direct website. This is an excellent resource which also offers live travel updates, train fares information and much more. 

Another site which does a similar job is Traveline. 

Our local train operator

The franchise for local train services is run by London Midland. 

Since December 2008 the timetable includes an hourly semi-fast service to stations to Crewe (examples - Rugby, Nuneaton, Lichfield, Stafford and Stoke). 

In addition to London Midland services, there is an hourly service - operated by Southern - providing direct trains from Milton Keynes to Kensington Olympia, West Brompton (for Earls Court), Clapham Junction (connections to most stations in the south of England) and East Croydon (connections to stations to Brighton).  

It is worth pointing out that Group Save tickets are available on London Midland services off peak, which means 3 or 4 adults travel for the price of 2, and up to 4 children travel for £1 each.

Through tickets from Milton Keynes stations to Paris and Brussels can also be booked via a link on this website.

Travelling to Europe by train and ship

Mark Smith (“The Man in Seat 61”) is the best person to consult on finding your way around Europe (and beyond) without using planes.  Mark lives in Buckinghamshire and has devised a wonderful website which contains a wealth of information about timetables and fares country by country. 

Car Hire in Milton Keynes

If you need to hire a car, why not make the occasion an excuse for trying out a green car?  Visit the Green Motion website to find out more. 

Buying a new car

When the time comes for replacing your car, you have a great opportunity to make a choice which could reduce your own personal carbon footprint considerably.   The first question to ask is whether you need to replace it at all – could you use a mixture of public transport and bicycle instead, and perhaps hire a car when you do need one?  If you decide you do need one, then could you manage with a smaller, more economical one, and perhaps hire a larger one for the holiday (for example)?  

If you want to try out a smaller car before making a final decision, why not hire one from Green Motion for a day to see how you like it? 

To help you to compare the fuel consumption and/or CO₂ emissions of different types of car, have a look at the Vehicle Certification Agency website.

You may be surprised at the very large choice of cars now available with emissions of 120g/km or below, which mean they are in the £35 (or £0 for the models with emissions below 100g/km) road tax bracket.

Another source of information is the What Green Car website which also provides news about green car developments.